The Theatre Bizarre (2011)
“Theater Bizarre” is a horror anthology that much reminds me of last years “Little Deaths” in that it takes some rather strange and extreme ideas for some of the stories of which there are many. So lets start at the…
Hardware (1990)
By the early 21st century things have really gone miserably down the tubes: mass unemployment, never-ending ongoing wars, no rainfall in many a moon, the government sponsors mass sterilization, a dense cloud of radiation hangs heavily in the air, hard…
The Black Gestapo (1975)
One of the many blaxploitation with the title prefix Black… (…Samurai, …Caesar, …Aphrodite), Gestapo also manages – rather uncomfortably – to incorporate the iconography of Nazism, bringing another of the popular sub-genre’s of the exploitation market, that together make nazi-blaxploitation….
Policewomen (1974)
“Policewomen” (actually, there is technically only ONE policewoman in the movie) is not as sleazy or action-filled as other drive-in movies of the period. However, it does manage to be much more enjoyable than many of them. Much of this…
Don’t Go in the House (1979)
I first heard about Don’t Go In The House when Quentin Tarantino mentioned that it was one of the most disturbing films he had ever seen. That’s a bit hard to ignore, especially when it is coming from someone who…
The Boss (1973)
he third and final film in Fernando Di Leo’s excellent Millieu trilogy, “Il Boss” of 1973 is an absolute masterpiece that easily ranks among the most brilliant Mafia films ever brought to screen. Director Di Leo had created one of…
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)
This may very well be the kinkiest mainstream Hollywood movie ever made. Picture Rock Hudson as Coach Tiger McDrew, a playboy teacher sleeping with the female student body, killing the ones who threaten to expose him or cause him problems,…
Embryo (1976)
Aside from great high profile work like the Exorcist, the 70s threatens to be eclipsed in the history of the horror film. It is remembered as the decade of slasher junk (the best of the sad field possibly being Halloween)….
Universal Studios Rides A Lower Budget Strategy to Success
Earlier this year I spent a great night at the Cinema 67 Drive-in in Spencer, Indiana. John, one of the owners of the drive-in was a great host. The lot was clean and had a sense of comfort to it,…
Dust Devil (1992)
Never before have I seen a director’s cut that’s made so much of a difference to my perceptions of a movie. My first viewing of “Dust Devil” was the Wienstein cut, with about half an hour amputated for American audiences….
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
On a desolate island a man (Michael York) discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor (Burt Lancaster) , as he’s horrified to uncover experiment transforming…
American Pop (1981)
The story surrounds four generations of father and sons, the events in their lives painted across the backdrop of the evolution of music. The movie begins with a young boy and his mother fleeing the chaos in turn-of-the-century Russia, where…
Coonskin (1975)
“Coonskin” is film, by the one and only Ralph Bakshi, is reportedly a satirical indictment of blaxploitation films and negative black stereotypes, as well as a look at life black in modern America (modern for the day, I mean–1975). Paramount…
Mutant Aliens (2001)
The plot involves an astronaut who was trapped in orbit due to the nefarious scheming of the “Department of Space,” and who returns to earth with a small army of mutant aliens to exact his revenge. This is mainly an…
Heavy Traffic (1973)
Heavy Traffic is, like many of Ralph Bakshi’s films, a like it or hate it affair, but for those that respond to it, the film provides many a surprising attack on sensibility, decency, and what it means to get by…
Heavy Metal (1981)
Heavy Metal, the movie, is great encapsulation of Heavy Metal, the magazine. Heavy Metal was and is an anthology of the best of American and European comic writers and artists. It has carried the work of such masters as Moebius,…
Wizards (1977)
Ralph Bakshi set a new benchmark for animation movies with “The Deputy Dawg Show”. Visually both inventive and dazzling, whilst having a strong thematic thread, it still managed to kick ass, with energetic humor sequences. He continues in the same…
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux, the first African-American to produce a feature-length film (The Homesteader (1919) in 1919) and a sound feature-length film (The Exile (1931) in 1931), is not a major figure in American film just for these milestones, but because his…
God’s Step Children (1938)
Writer-director-producer Oscar Micheaux’s technical skills were equal to those of another triple-threat filmmaker, Edward D. Wood, Jr. But his films were popular with black audiences because, like his novels, they addressed racial issues — often color divisions within the black…
The Spotlight Shines on Chris Ray
The last several years have been extremely busy and productive for Chris Ray. Chris and Gerald Webb his partner at DeInstitutionalized, racked up awards at festivals for their 2014 film A House is Not a Home and currently they are…